Here's last time. On we go!
The envoys fall back to the ranch. Blake goes home to feed his cat or something, and Father Will gets dropped off at the hospital. Samantha and Manny meet up with Jordan and Emily, and discuss their plan.
The plan is fairly simple - they're going to take the night to rest and gear up, and then go back to the farm and kill these things if they can. Jordan does some research and comes up with the same legends as Blake and Melinda did yesterday, but also that these creatures aren't referred to as undead or possessed people or anything like that - they're just monsters. That would seem to indicate that curing them is not possible. Jordan finds references to light or fire being used to keep them away, and since they're so partial to frigid temperatures, that tracks.
Emily stocks the SUVs with appropriate gear, including her flamethrower and shotguns with dragonbreath rounds. Samantha calls on her Prescient Dream discipline, and in her dream, she's dead. Buried in snow and frozen dirt, she lies there until one of the creatures digs her up and starts feasting on her flesh. She wakes up shivering, and more certain of the creatures' motives - meat.
The envoys get in their vehicles and head out to the farm. When they get there, Jordan and Emily walk the grounds to familiarize themselves (since they weren't here yesterday), while Samantha builds a fire and Manny unloads the cars. In the back of one of them, though, he finds a surprise - Chuy Fernandez, the 14-year-old. He says that he came along to help defend the home, and because Elena was going to sneak into the car if he didn't.
Jordan and Emily scope out the barn, and then everyone gets together in front of the fire to plan. They decide to set up some cover in the barn and wait there, figuring that the creatures will attack them and fly in through the hole in the roof. That should give them a good enough target to hit with the dragonbreath rounds and so on. They talk about maybe crossing the field to the copse of trees - since maybe that's their den - but they aren't sure that's wise. But maybe if the creatures are dormant during the day? Samantha calls on her Premonition discipline and looks ahead on that course of action, and sees that yes, the creatures do make their home in a den near those trees, but they are very much capable of fighting during the day. They decide that fighting these things in open territory is unwise, since they fly, and they stick with the original plan.
That evening, they tool up and head out to the barn. They wait a bit, and then hear a screech as the creatures approach. Something flies through the hole in the roof and Samantha shoots at it, but it lands with a wet thud and the envoys realize it's Melinda's body.
As they recoil in horror, the creatures attack! One of them smashes through a wall and grabs Chuy, yanking him out. The other flies through a window and howls, chilling them all to the bone with fear. But Emily is ready - she unloads her flamethrower at the creatures and it goes up like dry tinder, crashing into the barn and rolling around in pain. Samantha runs out of the barn and sees the other creature with its arms around Chuy, trying to fly away. She fires at it and misses, but manages to get its attention. Manny sends Peedee after it and he runs over and bites the creature's foot, pulling it down, while Manny grabs Chuy and pulls him out of the monster's grip. The thing's claws rake along the boy's arms and he screams in pain, but he's free.
Manny falls to the ground and shields Chuy. The creature kicks Peedee off into the barn wall, and then lands and bites Manny's shoulder. Manny feels his blood turn to ice as the creature's venom enters his body. The other envoys, though, are nearby.
Emily runs out and, not able to take a clear shot at the thing with her flamethrower, shoots it with her pistol. It barely notices, but that does give Jordan time to crack a flare and stab the monster in the back. It rears up, howling in pain, and Samantha fires, blowing a searing hole through its chest. It stumbles back and collapses, dead.
Samantha and Jordan immediately tend to Chuy and Manny, and Emily incinerates the bodies of the monsters. It's only after she's set them ablaze that the envoys realize they need venom from the creatures to make the cure - Manny is already freezing to death. Samantha remembers, though, that they can extract the venom from the wound, and they get to work on that (inside, of course, to keep everyone warm). They pull enough of the sludge from the bite, and Emily makes a batch of the elixir. Manny drinks it down, and starts to feel a little better.
The envoys wait until morning, and then Samantha, Emily, and Jordan take the snowmobiles out to the den to verify there are no more. They find animal bones and one human skeleton, which they deduce is probably the remains of Maria Fernandez. They decide to make sure she gets a proper burial, and leave the farm, taking Melinda's body with them to bury at the ranch. The Fernandez family goes back to their farm, Bernardo Jr and Manny both making a full recovery.
Of course, it's only December, so we'll see how the winter treats everyone going forward.
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